I recently rescued a leo that was abandoned at the pet store I work at. It was in rough shape and after going to the vet and having thick eye caps removed was diagnosed with mouth rot and an eye ulcer, and the tips of a couple toes are very dark red from shed that was probably left on for a long time. Basically she is currently blind, as she holds her eyes shut until I put in eye drops, and even when she opens them the eyes look black and unresponsive to movement. The guy abandoned her in a 18x18x18 exo terra tank with front opening doors. I know a 20 gallon long would be ideal, but I was wondering if it would be wise to move her to such a large tank when she is unable to see? She gets around all right in her current cage but the size and layout is all familiar to her as well. If anyone has experience with blind leos I'd appreciate an opinion of this.
As well as the cage size, the heating of the cage is rather confusing as well to me. The warm side of her tank is 88-90 F, and the cool side is 79-80 F. I've read that the temp can drop down to 65-75 at night, which my room falls in the range of, but I've also read that the UTH should be left on during the night as well. right now I heat the cage with a UTH and a purple light lamp. The lamp I've been turning off at night, and turning the UTH down to low, but since many heat their tanks with exclusively a UTH, how would leaving it on at night be beneficial if the temp is supposed to drop at night? Is it supposed to be kept on but turned down to low, or should all heating devices just be turned off at night if the rooms temperature is in the right range.
As well as the cage size, the heating of the cage is rather confusing as well to me. The warm side of her tank is 88-90 F, and the cool side is 79-80 F. I've read that the temp can drop down to 65-75 at night, which my room falls in the range of, but I've also read that the UTH should be left on during the night as well. right now I heat the cage with a UTH and a purple light lamp. The lamp I've been turning off at night, and turning the UTH down to low, but since many heat their tanks with exclusively a UTH, how would leaving it on at night be beneficial if the temp is supposed to drop at night? Is it supposed to be kept on but turned down to low, or should all heating devices just be turned off at night if the rooms temperature is in the right range.
) But i switched him to paper towel, and shrank his enclosure down to one large hide (that spanned the hot and cool side), a water bowl, a calcium dish, and a food bowl. I simply misted him when he was about to shed. He took to an enviorment change very well, and seemed happier when his enclosure became more simple. But he became happiest when I moved him to a tub in my rack system with only one large deli cup hide, and all of his bowls a few inches from the hide entrance. The simpler the better! But you still need room enough to have a proper heat gradient. A ten gallon (or similar floor space) would be best IMHO. You don't need the light, especially in that small of a space. And you don't need a temperature drop at night. Just keep a third of the tank constantly heated (87-95 F) with a heatpad controlled with a thermostat. And keep the tank as simple as possible, to minimize his stress levels. Feel free to PM me with any questions you might have in the future, seeing as we seem to have very similar situations, and mine ended in a fat happy gecko 
